Growing your business and expanding your reach can be daunting to consider. The problem for most small companies is speed. Too many want to do it yesterday. Almost all who focus on speed never make it. They were not ready for it. Certain strategies were not in place. In the end, it is all about preparation. If you haven’t developed the groundwork to expand, you are never going to. So, what needs to be prepared?
- One thing many unsuccessful small businesses fail to do is to develop an overall company culture. Having a vision of what the company is, what it does and how it does it are things that must be in place early on. What are the company’s values and how do these things remain unchanged so that employees are not constantly looking over their shoulders? People want to fit in where they feel the mission and feel comfortable.
- The next thing that will prepare you for success is to hire on the right people. You must know who will be a good fit for your culture as well as someone who will be able to contribute over the long run. You can’t build a championship team without great players. Bring in the wrong people and your turnover will constantly bring all of your plans and preparations to a screeching halt.
- Your marketing and customer service efforts will make or break any attempt to grow. You must be branding all of the time and your SEO and social media marketing must be driving traffic. Finally, pay more attention to your current customers and clients. It is their trust in you that has got your company this far and they are the reason you are in a position to grow.
-Written by Kevin Sawyer